The Free Syrian Army said on Tuesday that the Syrian regime has executed 57 air raids on the city of Yabroud in the southern countryside of Damascus within 14 days of the military campaign by regime troops and Hezbollah militias against the opposition-held city.
Anatolia News Agency reported from the spokesman of the FSA military council in Damascus and its countryside, Musaab Abu Qatada, that regime troops and Hezbollah militias shelled Yabroud with seven surface-to-surface missiles and nine explosive barrels, while the artillery kept shelling the city violently. The spokesman did not reveal the number of civilians or fighters killed in the air and artillery attacks.
The spokesman said 85% of the inhabitants of Yabroud and its nearby towns, such as Assahel and Ras al-Marra, have moved to the Lebanese village of Arsal or to opposition-held villages in the Qalamoun region bordering Lebanon.
The spokesman of the General Commission of Syrian Revolution in Qalamon region said that the troops of the regime and Hezbollah are trying to storm Yabroud from the north – specifically via Assahel village – and from the east via the international highway which connects Damascus with Homs and Aleppo, but that opposition forces aborted these tries and caused many casualties among their troops.
Opposition media said that 300 soldiers and Hezbollah fighters were killed during the battles with opposition forces near Yabroud, but the news was not verified by the regime or Hezbollah.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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